The Exadata plug-in support additional patching features in support of the entire Exadata stack, including:
Compute nodes: Firmware and operating system (OS).
Exadata Storage Server cells: Firmware and cell software.
InfiniBand network: Switch firmware.
Quarterly Full Stack Patch Download (QFSDP) is released every quarter. Primary components are:
Database (Database, Clusterware).
Infrastructure includes Exadata Storage Server, InfiniBand Switch, and PDU.
Exadata systems patching includes:
Comprehensive overview of the maintenance status and needs.
Proactive patch recommendations for the quarterly full stack patches.
Supports auto patch download, ability to patch either in rolling or non-rolling modes.
Ability to schedule runs.
Proactive notification of the status updates.
Granular step-level status tracking with real-time updates.
Log monitoring and aggregation, supporting quick filing of support issues with pre-packaged log dumps.
For more details, see the following documents:
The Updating Exadata Storage Servers and Updating Exadata InfiniBand Switches sections of the Oracle® Enterprise Manager Lifecycle Management Administrator's Guide.
Exadata Database Machine and Exadata Storage Server Supported Versions (Doc ID 888828.1) in My Oracle Support:
https://support.oracle.com/rs?type=doc&id=888828.1